Writers Guild nominees announced

George Clooney's The Descendants, Brad Pitt's Moneyball, Kristen Wiig's Bridesmaids and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris are among nominees for the Writers Guild of America Awards.

Clooney's family drama The Descendants earned an adapted-screenplay nomination on Thursday for director Alexander Payne and co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Pitt's sports tale Moneyball is up for the same prize for writers Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin.

Zaillian has a second adapted-screenplay nomination for director David Fincher's thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

Bridesmaids star Wiig shared an original-screenplay nomination for her wedding comedy, which she co-wrote with Annie Mumolo. Director Allen also was nominated for original screenplay for his romantic fantasy Midnight in Paris.

Other contenders for original screenplay: Will Reiser for the cancer story 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen; Tom McCarthy for the family tale Win Win, featuring Paul Giamatti; and Diablo Cody for the dark comedy Young Adult, with Charlize Theron.

Some acclaimed films, including the silent movie The Artist, were ineligible because they were not made under the guild's contract guidelines.

Nominated for documentary screenplay: Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega, Better This World; Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front; Patricio Guzman, Nostalgia for the Light; Wim Wenders, Pina; Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich and Leonard Retel Helmrich, Position Among the Stars; and Manish Pandey, Senna.

Honours from Hollywood trade groups such as the writers, actors and directors guilds help sort out likely contenders for the Academy Awards, whose nominations come out on January 24.